Razor with shiftable handle means thereon



July 24, 1962 w. A. DIEHL 3,045,342

RAZOR WITH SHIFTABLE HANDLE MEANS THEREON Filed July 13, 1960 INVENTOR.Wei/fer A. Die/z/ BY Frlyhz V741,?

TTRNEYS.

nitcddtatcs This invention relates to safety razors used primarily forshaving and more particularly to razors which have finger-engaging meansthereon providing a handle for the razor.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a safety razorhaving means thereon for facilitating the manipulation of the razorduring shaving to render the razor highly maneuverable and to permit theuser thereof to dispose the razor at every conceivable angle so that theshaving action can be done with ease and dispatch.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of a razorhaving a shaft and a finger-engaging handle rotatably mounted on theshaft, so that the razor may be easily held by the fingers and thehandle rotated relative to the shaft to dispose the fingers at any anglerelative to the edge of the blade inserted in the razor.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a handle forrazors which, when placed in use in a manner contemplated by theinvention, permits the user to bring the razor blade into operativerelationship to the face in a relatively large number of differentpositions or angles so that, notwithstanding facial irregularities andother factors, a clean, smooth shave can be obtained.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the razor made pursuant to mypresent invention, the handle thereof being shown in one rotativeposition;

FIG. 2 is the razor shown in FIG. 1, with the handle illustrated in asecond rotative position;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the razor illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the razor held in an operative positionby the thumb and index finger of the user thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the razor illustrating the same in anoperative position utilizing the thumb, index and middle fingers of theuser thereof.

This application is a continuation in part of my earlier applicationSerial No. 766,843, filed Gctober 13, 1958, now abandoned.

The razor which is the subject of this invention is broadly denoted bythe numeral and comprises a shaft 12, a blade mounting means 14 andhandle means 16.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings, shaft 12 is formed from a rigidmaterial, such as sheet metal or the like, and, being substantiallypolygonal in plan form, is provided with a pair of opposed ends 18 and2h. The longitudinal edges 22 of shaft 12 intermediate ends 18 and aresubstantially arcuate as shown in FIG. 3 to increase the transversedimension of shaft 12 at end 20 thereof to accommodate theblade-mounting means hereinafter described. Although the embodiment ofshaft 1'2 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive illustrates the same ascomprised of a sheet of rigid material, it is clear that shaft 12 couldbe of any plan form and transverse cross section.

Blade-mounting means 14 is comprised 'of a polygonal projection 24integral with shaft 12 at end 20 of the latter and extending outwardlyfrom one face 25 of shaft 12 and disposed relative to the latter at anangle, as is clear in FIGS. 1 and 2. Projection 24 is provided withatcnt ice .to edge 30 of the latter to provide a portion of surface 26out of contact with blade 28. To retain blade 28 on surface 26 anelongated band 36 is disposed in overlying spaced relationship tosurface '26 and secured at the ends 38 thereof to opposed side margins44 of projection 24, as is clear in FIG. 3. Band 36 is substantiallyparallel to edge 30 of projection 24 and is disposed on the latterintermediate edge 39 and end 20 of shaft 12. Blade 28, as shown in thedrawings, is a conventional single edge blade having a transverselyU-shaped portion 42 surrounding the edge thereof opposite to cuttingedge 32. When blade 28 is inserted between surface 26 and band 36 themarginal edges of portion 42 engage the corresponding longitudinal edgesof band 36 and blade 28 is releasably held therebetween by virtue of thefrictional engagement thereof with the sides of the blade. It is clearthat a conventional double edged blade could be used with blade-mountingmeans 14, such a blade being also held between surface 26 and band 36 bythe frictional engagement therewith. It is further conceivable thatblade 28' could be held between surface 26 and band 36 by virtue ofmeans mounted on band 36 in the nature of a setscrew or the like forlocking blade 28 in a fixed position relative to edge 30 of projection24.

Handle means 16 includes an element 44 having a pair of elongated,transversely U-shaped members 46, each having a bight 48 and a pair ofopposed extremities 5t) spaced from bight 4% thereof. Members 46 arejoined at one extremity 50 of each by means of a part 52 integral withmembers 46 and extending substantially the length of the latter, as isclear in FIG. 3. Element 44 is formed from a sheet of rigid, bendablematerial such as sheet metal and is open at the ends thereof to permitone finger or several fingers of the user of razor 10 to be insertedinto one member 46 or both members 46, respectively, so that razor 10may be held to accomplish the shaving action by the user thereof.

Element .44 is rotatably mounted on shaft 12 by virtue of pivot means 54in the form of a rivet 55 extending through part 52 and shaft 12proximal to end 18 of the latter and having a pair of opposed heads 56and 57, respectively, as is clear in FIG. 2. A spring washer 58 isinserted on rivet 56 between shaft 12 and head 57 and is provided withan undulating outer surface engageable with the underside of rivet 57for yieldably biasing head 57 outwardly from shaft 12. Rivet 55 isdisposed centrally of part 52 to mount the latter on face 25 of shaft12, and the tension on rivet 55 by virtue of the frictional engagementof head 57 thereof with washer 58 forces part 52 into tight frictionalengagement with face 25 to preclude free rotation of element 44 relativeto shaft 12. To change the position of element 44 relative to shaft 12,a slight amount of effort is required to overcome the frictional forceexisting between part 52 and face 25 to cause element 44 to rotate tothe desired position.

In operation, the fingers of the user of razor 10 may be inserted withinelement 44 in any manner, but two different ways of holding razor 10 areillustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4 the index finger 59' of the lefthand 60 of the user is inserted in element 44 to engage bight 48 of oneof members 46. The thumb 62 engages the outer surface of bight 48 sothat element 44 is effectively grasped between finger 59 and thumb 62.It is clear that shaft 12, and thereby cutting edge 32 of blade 28, canbe shifted relative to the finger 59 or thumb 62 by manuallymanipulating shaft 12 with the right hand (not shown) I Patented July24-, 1962 of the user of razor 10. In this way razor 10 may be used sothat any number of rotative positions thereof can be utilized to shave asurface, such as the face of the user, notwithstanding theirregularities thereof.

Another manner of using razor 10 is to insert index finger 59 and middlefinger 64 of hand 60 within both members 46 of element 44 and to supportthe latter on hand 60 by virtue of thumb 62 engaging both members 46proximal extremities 50 thereof. Used in this Way,

shaft 12 may be shifted relative to element 44 by moving 3 the thumb 62in engagement with one of side margins 40 of projection 24 to force thelatter in one direction and thereby rotating shaft 12 relative toelement 44. To rotate shaft 12 in the opposite direction thumb 62engages the opposite side margin 40 to force the latter in the oppositedirection.

Razor 10 as described above permits the user thereof to accomplish theshaving action desired in an easy manner and with dispatch, so that thesurface to be shaved can be covered by the cutting edge 32 of blade 28with a minimum of effort, since shaft 12 can be rotated relative toelement 44 to shift the cutting edge 32 into an infinite number ofpositions.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A razor comprising a shaft; means on one end of said shaft formounting a razor blade thereon; and tubular finger-receiving meanscarried by said shaft proximal to the other end thereof for rotationabout an axis substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of saidshaft and providing a handle for said razor, whereby saidfinger-receiving means may be shifted relative to said blade-mountingmeans.

2. A razor comprising an elongated shaft provided with a facelongitudinally disposed therealong; means on one end of said shaft formounting a razor blade thereon including a polygonal projection having ablade-engaging surface thereon and extending outwardly from the face ofsaid shaft, and a band secured to opposed side margins of the projectionand spaced from said surface in overlying relationship thereto, wherebya blade may be mounted on said surface and held thereon by said band;fingerreceiving means carried by the shaft proximal to the other end ofsaid shaft and including a pair of elongated, transversely U-shapedmembers each having a pair of elongated, opposed extremities, and a partjoining an extremity of each of said members to form a rigid tubularelement providing a handle for said shaft; and pivot means carried bysaid shaft and engaging said part for rotatably mounting the latter onsaid face of the shaft, whereby the element may be rotated relative tosaid shaft to vary the angularity between the edge of the blade and theextremities of said members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS880,735 Heissenberger Mar. 3, 1908 971,772 Millar Oct. 4, 1910 1,201,317Lishawa Oct. 17, 1916 1,500,643 Scalbom July 8, 1924 2,211,255 ClaassenAug. 13, 1940 2,648,129 Streeter Aug. 11, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 123.509Great Britain Feb. 27, 1919

